March honours 16-year-old stabbing victim Jannai Dopwell Bailey
A group marched in Cote-des-Neiges-NDG Saturday to honour Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, a 16-year-old who was fatally stabbed last month.
The group met in front of his school, Programme Mile End, where a memorial still stands.
Bailey’s friends and family remember him as a fun and loving teenager.
“A child who loved to dance, he loved rapping, he loved his family, he loved his mom,” said Bailey’s cousin, Onica John.
His family also wants to set the record straight, and make sure people know who Bailey was.
“He wasn’t in any type of gang,” said his brother, Tyrese Dopwell-Bailey. “I know because he’s black and he has dreads, automatically the media thought that he was gang affiliated.”
“He was just a little boy. A teenager figuring out life,” he added.
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with Bailey’s death and face charges of second-degree murder. One of them is 18-year-old Andrei Donet, while the other is a minor and therefore cannot be named.
Bailey’s mother says there needs to be more after school resources to prevent incidents like this one from happening in the future.
“Play basketball, play music, socialize — there’s nothing here for the youths. They are on the street,” said Charla Dopwell.
Cousin Onica John agrees.
“In Cote-des-Neiges there’s certain programs that need to be implemented to help with the young ones. Because if you leave them to just hang, they’re going eventually end up doing stuff that they’re not supposed to,” she said.
Dopwell said she met with Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante, but did not disclose any details about their interaction.
“The mayor came [to] my home and the meeting went well, and that’s all I’m going to say.”
There is hope that some good can come out of the tragedy community — but the loss will never be forgotten.
“It’s very, very sad,” said Dopwell. “I miss him. I sleep, I breathe, I eat, I think of Jannai.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.